January 20, 2009

You can sum up my entire life in this sentence: God likes sending me black cats in the organ.

I arrived late for Mass this morning because I couldn’t seem to find the donations flyer I got in the mail for a convent of Benedictine nuns. Apparently, someone’s been throwing out my mail for me. This brought up irritation and a hint of bitterness which made me mad but also guilty. How do you worship the Lord with weight like that in your heart? So, en route to church, trusting in the Lord to deliver me from evil thoughts and irritation, I brought out the rosary and prayed the second half of the Glorious Mysteries since I was unable to finish the night before. Reflecting on Christ’s resurrection then ascension brings things back into perspective to tell you the truth. And by the end, the Lord lifted it from my heart.

I positioned myself at the aged electronic organ, despite my lateness, powering it up. And by the time the Agnus Dei came around I was ready to play. Except the volume pedal seemed stuck. It was at full volume and didn’t want to move. I took a look at it and there seemed to be some black foam blocking its path? So I jammed my foot on the pedal hoping to force it to move, and as it did…

A black cat came running out of the hole housing the pedal, racing for the nearest exit. I uttered an “Oh!” which was thankfully drowned out by people greeting each other with a sign of peace.

Looks like the church has a resident feline organist.

The organ worked okay after that. I just realized that some of the noise problems the organ displays, may be due to the cat scratching or biting down on the wires. Who would’ve known?

Thus says the Lord: “Stop taking your bitter pills, Lionel, and laugh. See? I sent you a black cat to lift your spirits. Now try to be more positive.”